Mint.Com vs. Yodlee vs. Quicken: Money Management Tools Compared

By reComparison Contributor

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Difference between Mint.Com, Yodlee and Quicken

For those who are looking for an online money management solution, the names to beat are Mint.com, Yodlee, and Quicken. Offering a variety of useful features which help them stand out from the competition, these products may just assist you in managing your money better, and what's more, they are available for free.

Profile

Mint.com is a web-based financial management service that caters to the U.S. and Canadian markets. The company was founded by Aaron Patzer, who sought to provide a service by which users can track various transactions via an easy-to-use interface. Users of Mint.com can also set budgets and financial goals, and even perform cash or check transactions.

Yodlee is a U.S. based company that offers a variety of account aggregation services. The service allows users to access information on their credit cards, bank accounts, investments, and even email and travel rewards all from a single interface. In addition, Yodlee also offers a web-based application that allows users to manage their finances totally online, with a variety of bill payment, expense tracking, and investment management features.

Quicken is a set of finance management tools under the ownership of Intuit, Inc. With versions for both the Windows and Macintosh platforms, Quicken now also comes in an online version. Aaron Patzer was tapped by Intuit after launching Mint.com to become the VP and GM of their Personal Finance Group division.

Budgeting Features

In terms of budgeting features, all three services offer similar capabilities, but Quicken has a definite edge over the other two. Quicken has a full set of budgeting features available, while Yodlee and Mint offers a somewhat cut down set that allows you to define a monthly goal for your expenses and gives you a report on how you stand in relation to your budget. If you need more sophisticated budgeting tools however, Quicken definitely has the advantage.

Aggregation and Accessibility

All three services also offer a variety of account aggregation features, but Quicken again has the edge over the rest in this regard. Performing transactions such as making a transfer from a savings account to a checking account is easy enough for all three services, with the transaction details being downloaded for both accounts. However, Quicken makes things a lot easier by treating each transfer a single transaction that users can easily tag, classify, annotate, and otherwise change however he sees fit, with all the changes being reflected in both accounts.

That being said, Yodlee and Mint do have an edge over Quicken in that they can be accessed from any location that has an Internet connection. Quicken however can only be used from the computer or laptop that you have installed it in. While there are certainly ways around this limitation, Mint.com and Yodlee are simply easier to use right out of the box.

Similarities and Differences

Mint.com

Allows users to track various transactions via an easy-to-use interface